It's not clear what outlet the interviewer is from, since he's not identified in the screenshots BuzzFeed shared. In the closed-captions from the screengrabs, though, you can see the interviewer ask Pall whether he gets to bring his dog along on tour. Pall said he doesn't often get to, because his dog is "really ill-behaved" — and then said "Well, I don't know if I'd bring her to China," before laughing. The interviewer is clearly shocked, placing his hand over his mouth in surprise.

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Twitter users have interpreted Pall's statement as being a reference to traditions surrounding the Lychee and Dog Meat festival (commonly referred to as the Yulin Dog Meat Festival) in China's Guangxi province.

I don't like the chainsmokers but the yulin dog meat festival still happens every year in china. They are still jerks for joking about it.

Pall's critics have called his remarks "racist toward Asians" for seeming to insinuate that a tourist's pet dog would be stolen and eaten. Nevertheless, the festival doesn't represent the traditions or eating habits of the entire country. And it's very unlikely his dog would have been taken and used as food. As one BuzzFeed commenter pointed out, some Americans have pet pigs, and no one is stealing them to make pulled pork. It might have seemed like a funny comment to Pall at the time, but it came off as insensitive toward many members of The Chainsmokers' audience.

A rep for The Chainsmokers didn't immediately respond to Refinery29's request for comment. We will update this story if and when we obtain a response.